This story was originally published by Real Clear Wire
Written by Bonner Russell Cohen
Real clear wire
Feeling the heat from farmers dumping manure in front of government buildings across the continent, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is hitting the brakes on a pillar of the EU's net-zero climate policy and withdrawing an EU-wide bill that would force farmers to reduce their use. Chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030.
With European Parliament elections in Brussels looming later this year, rolling back one of the most extreme net zero measures is an act of political realism. Europe is being shocked by rising energy and food prices, much of which is due to the political class's obsession with reducing greenhouse gas emissions from all sources, including agriculture. With the corruption of farmers, the “climate crisis” can only wait.
Blissfully oblivious to what's happening across the pond, the Biden administration is doubling down on its own version of net zero emissions, and the American public may be in for some nasty surprises. A new report from the Buckeye Institute in Columbus, Ohio, shows how bad these surprises can be. The report, “Net Zero Climate Control Policies Will Fail the Farm,” is authored by Trevor W. Lewis and M. Ankith Reddy.
The report says the problems start with provisions of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and Biden administration regulations that favor electric vehicles over conventionally powered vehicles in the agricultural sector.
Forced transition to electric vehicles
“First, electric vehicles are much less reliable and more expensive to purchase, repair, power and maintain than combustion engine vehicles, making them impractical and unsuitable for working farms,” the Buckeye report notes, “farm equipment must be durable and able to operate in all weather conditions.” “Tractors and farm equipment must operate in off-road environments on poorly paved roads under the constant risk of collisions that can permanently damage sensitive parts of the electric vehicle, rendering it useless.”
“Electric vehicle batteries drain faster in extreme cold and heat, and electric vehicles lose range in the rain due to reduced resistance between the vehicle and the road and energy transfer to windshield wipers and headlights… An electric vehicle battery replacement typically costs between $5,000 and $15,000,” the report adds. General repairs for electric vehicles require more labor and cost 25% more than standard vehicles.
“These reliability and financial concerns make EVs unattractive as farm equipment and make running a successful farm more expensive, but the Biden administration’s rules will force farmers to buy or subsidize them anyway,” Lewis and Ready noted.
Reliance on intermittent energy
“Second, the nationwide electric power transition relies entirely on intermittent and unreliable sources of emission-free electric power, namely wind and solar power. “Wind and solar power do not produce power continuously throughout the day,” the report says. Variation in renewable energy also makes it difficult for operators to schedule energy demand, making energy prices volatile and ultimately more expensive.”
Alleviating the pressures that intermittent power imposes on the already shaky electrical grid requires operating more natural gas power plants, for fear that the country will face more power outages and blackouts. But in July 2023, the report notes, the White House Council on Environmental Quality increased bureaucratic red tape around approving new natural gas projects.
“The Biden administration’s efforts to force farmers to adopt electrical equipment that is not suitable for farming and to replace natural gas generators with unreliable renewable energy sources is a recipe for unsustainable agriculture. Unfortunately, central planners in Washington appear oblivious to this stubborn truth and remain committed to making Europe’s mistakes.”
Track emissions from farm to fork
American farmers also find themselves at the center of environmental, social and governance reporting requirements proposed by the Biden White House. In March 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a mandatory ESG disclosure rule that would apply to every publicly traded company. “The rule would mandate costly ESG emissions reporting for a company’s entire supply chain, requiring large, publicly traded food processing companies, grocery stores, and restaurant groups to track and report emissions from farm to fork,” the report explains. “Large companies looking to reduce their overall emissions will stop purchasing food from farms with high emissions rates, once again imposing costs and financial pressures on the American farmer.”
“With the extensive use of synthetic fertilizers and fossil fuels, methane emissions from livestock, weed and insect spraying, and genetically modified crops, agriculture has been targeted by ESG fiduciaries,” Lewis and Reidy noted. And now Farmer Brown is being targeted by Biden's Securities and Exchange Commission.
The European Union calls one of its net-zero agricultural programs “farm to fork.” But farmers in Europe are witnessing an open revolt, and the powers that be in Brussels have taken notice. The SEC's power grab may also be at a difficult stage. Biden's plan faces a tough challenge in court, where plaintiffs claim that the SEC – under the “big questions doctrine” adopted by the current Supreme Court – lacks congressional authority to regulate the entire supply chain, including agriculture.
Bonner Russell Cohen, Ph.D., is a senior policy analyst at CFACT.
This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and made available via RealClearWire.
